Ban Kept for Gay Men
Donating Blood
By AP from the
NYTimes on the Web, May 23, 2007
WASHINGTON -- Gay men remain
banned for life from donating blood, the government said Wednesday, leaving in
place -- for now -- a 1983 prohibition meant to prevent the spread of HIV
through transfusions.
The Food and Drug Administration reiterated its long-standing policy on its Web
site Wednesday, more than a year after the Red Cross and two other blood groups
criticized the policy as ''medically and scientifically unwarranted.''
''I am disappointed, I must confess,'' said Dr. Celso Bianco, executive vice
president of America's Blood Centers, whose members provide nearly half the
nation's blood supply.
Before giving blood, all men are asked if they have had sex, even once, with
another man since 1977. Those who say they have are permanently banned
from donating. The FDA said those men are at increased risk of infection
by HIV that can be transmitted to others by blood transfusion.
In March 2006, the Red Cross, the international blood association AABB and
America's Blood Centers proposed replacing the lifetime ban with a one-year
deferral following male-to-male sexual contact. New and improved tests,
which can detect HIV-positive donors within just 10 to 21 days of infection,
make the lifetime ban unnecessary, the blood groups told the FDA.
In a document posted Wednesday, the FDA said it would change its policy if given
data that show doing so wouldn't pose a ''significant and preventable'' risk to
blood recipients.
''It is a way of saying, 'Whatever was presented to us was not sufficient to
make us change our minds,''' Bianco said.
The FDA said HIV tests currently in use are highly accurate, but still cannot
detect the virus 100 percent of the time. The estimated HIV risk from a
unit of blood is currently about one per 2 million in the United States,
according to the agency.
Critics of the exclusionary policy said it bars potential healthy donors,
despite the increasing need for donated blood, and discriminates against gays.
The FDA recognized the policy defers many healthy donors but rejected the
suggestion it's discriminatory.
Anyone who's used intravenous drugs or been paid for sex also is permanently
barred from donating blood.
On the Net: FDA Q-and-A about its policy on blood donations from gay men:
http://www.fda.gov/cber/faq/msmdonor.htm
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